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A Case of Bilateral Cooperation: Norway–Russia

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Book cover Coast Guards and Ocean Politics in the Arctic

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Abstract

There are more to coast guards than just their immediate role as upholders of law and order at sea. They are also being utilised as platforms to initiate and scale up international cooperation between states. This chapter explores Arctic cooperation on maritime issues, looking at an example of bilateral coast guard cooperation by examining the most in-depth case to-date, namely between Norway and Russia. Despite being on opposite sides concerning security interest (NATO–Russia), these two neighbours have managed their ongoing disputes through low-level cooperation on coast guard and maritime affairs. This can in turn help us better understand the Arctic governance system in general, as well as why the role of coast guards is on the rise in northern waters.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Coined by Christopher Hill (1993) to describe the growing expectations concerning the EU’s weight as an international actor, this term holds relevance here in describing the gap between the expectations of booming Arctic maritime activity and the inability of coast guards to manage potential incidents at sea.

  2. 2.

    As described by Åtland and Ven Bruusgaard (2009) and Hønneland (2016, 103–26).

  3. 3.

    Author’s translation. Original: ‘Et fellestrekk i disse sakene er at partene møttes akkurat på midten’ (Hønneland and Jørgensen 2015, 67).

  4. 4.

    For a good description/overview of the various security concepts with regards to the Arctic, see Hoogensen Gjørv et al. (2014).

  5. 5.

    In 1966, Stanley Hoffmann coined the distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ politics, as a way of separating the different policy-spheres of European integration. Economic policy constitutes ‘low politics’, whereas the survival of the state, i.e. security policy, constitutes ‘high politics’ (Hoffman 1966, 882, 901).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fridtjof Nansen Institute, Lysaker, Norway

    Andreas Østhagen

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  1. Andreas Østhagen
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Correspondence to Andreas Østhagen .

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Østhagen, A. (2020). A Case of Bilateral Cooperation: Norway–Russia. In: Coast Guards and Ocean Politics in the Arctic. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0754-0_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0754-0_5

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